Foles may meet his match in Cardinals' colossal Calais

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, here with Chip Kelly on the sideline during their recent win over the Redskins, will need to use his height to help him see past Arizona’s sizeable defense Sunday. (Eric Hartline/21st Century Media)

Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell, left, and Yeremiah Bell, bottom, take down Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush during their game Sept. 15. Campbell’s bulk will provide a hefty challenge for the Eagles when the teams face off Sunday. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHILADELPHIA — There was many a grandfather who spent his retirement years in the 1960s and 1970s cruising around in a Cadillac Calais, a monstrosity of steel and V-8 power that would dominate the road.

At 6-8, 300 pounds, Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell grew into the luxury-tank name he received as an infant. And just as the Caddy that shares his name is an old-school vehicle from a time when bigger was better, Campbell is a throwback stretch defensive end in the mold of Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Dennis “Big Foot” Harrison and even men like Clyde Simmons and Reggie White — men who not only were threats to crunch the quarterback, but get a big mitt in the passing lane along the way.

Calais not only has 5.5 sacks in 2013, he also has four passes defensed in 11 games after racking up 16 in 29 games the previous two seasons. He’s only the biggest passing-lane clogger among a front seven of giants for the Cards — their 3-4 front has Matt Shaughnessy (6-5) and John Abraham (6-4) at the outside linebacker spots, Darnell Dockett (6-4) at the other end, and another rangy linebacker and strong blitzer in Karlos Dansby (6-4) on the inside.

For many quarterbacks, that type of size can make it tough to find a receiver through the oak trees. However, the Eagles not only have gained stature in the NFC with conference offensive player of the month Nick Foles leading them to wins in their last three games, Foles also adds stature to the passing pocket compared to erstwhile starter Mike Vick. At 6-6, Foles is a half-foot taller than Vick.

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That size has led to a decidedly smaller number of batted balls with Foles back to pass. Foles not only stands tall when he scans for his receivers, he also is a high ball pigskin pitcher, never reluctant to lead his receivers with a pass from the numbers up — a fact that makes his zero interceptions in 162 pass attempts this season all the more stunning.

“He’s a big guy, a tall guy,” Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said of Foles as the Eagles prepared for a pivotal matchup with red-hot Arizona (7-4) Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. “But he’s a good athlete.”

“I know if you have a shorter quarterback,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said, “there is a tendency for the interior guys to get a push and get their hands up. That’s kind of a league standard when there’s a shorter quarterback.”

Chip Kelly believes the Eagles’ use of large “swatters” in training camp to emphasize the need for the quarterbacks to stay true to passing lanes has played a part in Foles’ knack for getting passes through the traffic.

“I think it gets them to understand throwing lanes and that you can just let it rip no matter what,” Kelly said. “There are defensive linemen that are going to be over there and that’s part of the problem with the (7-on-7) drill is your quarterback can get in that comfort zone … he can’t hold it that long.”

The Cardinals will try to press the issue by bringing Dansby on blitzes and moving and stunting Campbell all over the place along the line, including head-up on the center. Arizona used that tactic against a couple of the taller quarterbacks in the league in Matt Ryan and Andrew Luck in recent weeks with a great deal of success.

There aren’t many nose tackles who can disrupt the sight line of Foles, but if Campbell’s the guy pressuring from inside, it can be an issue.

The man who has been coming up with Arizona’s interesting calls up front is defensive coordinator Todd Bowles — the man who replaced Juan Castillo as Eagles defensive coordinator when he was fired early last season. If anyone might have an idea how to disrupt Foles, it’s the guy who spent the final two months of last season watching him go against his defensive unit daily at practice.

“From being around a guy and getting to know someone in person, you probably do have a pretty good idea,” Foles said of Bowles. “Then again, I think I’m a different player than I was last season … But being around him, he knows my mentality, how I am.

“I’m sure he’s studying the film, and he’s a great coach. He’s going to make adjustments to take stuff from us, so we have to execute. We need to recognize what they are doing on defense and take advantage.”

It doesn’t hurt that the Birds also have been blessed with a healthy, stable offensive line this season. According to Kelce, it took about four games for rookie tackle Lane Johnson to become wired with the rest of the linemen. Since then, the communication between the quartet has become seamless.

“That’s huge,” Kelce said. “On the offensive line, more than any other position, you kind of rely on the person next to you and build this relationship with them — how they play the game, how they think, their tendencies. We’ve been fortunate so far this year not dealing with too many situations where we’re subbing in, subbing out with guys getting hurt.”

If the Eagles want to show that they are good enough to win against one of the best defenses in the league, that communication will be crucial in getting Arizona’s Calais to stall out at the line of scrimmage.